2017 FILE PHOTO — Chris Lynch (left) and Mike Pietz, both of Battle Ground, work to fill food boxes in the stockroom of North County Community Food Bank in Battle Ground.
Geri Boek (left) and Sheri Wilson, both of Battle Ground, work to bring a new shipment of food through the back door of the North County Community Food Bank last Wednesday.
It’s 9 a.m., Wednesday, Nov. 15 and the North County Community Food Bank is starting to fill up.
Wednesdays are one of the food bank’s open pantry days, where, along with putting in orders for food they need, families and individuals can come and pick food items off the shelves in a small room that doubles as the food bank's. It fills up quickly, and adjacent office spaces aren’t much roomier: it’s hard to tell where a workspace ends and a walkway to the stockrooms begin.
As the Battle Ground area has continued to grow — the city proper officially surpassed 20,000 residents this year — so has the number of people seeking assistance from their primary food bank officials are struggling to keep up.
Managing space inside and out
Families and individuals being served by North County Community Food Bank have more than doubled over the last six years.
In 2011 the food bank served 270 families and 850 individuals, compared to 589 families and 2,156 individuals in 2016. And 2017 numbers, for both families and individuals have already surpassed those of 2016 with the rest of November and December still to come.
With limited shelf space in the 1,860-square-foot facility, managing the amount of food they need for food boxes requested, and when to have it delivered — most shipments come in from Clark County Food Bank in Vancouver — has become increasingly hard, said Executive Director Elizabeth Cerveny. At times, this has led to those food boxes being lighter than they would if the facility had more shelf space to stockpile.
Cerveny, who has been the executive director since 2012, also mentioned growing safety concerns their facing. The food bank, built in 1992, is snug on the corner of Northeast 3rd Avenue and Northeast 1st Street off of Main Street in Old Town with limited parking available. The rising number of cars hoping to find parking in the area does not mix well with a portion of folks who walk to the food bank. Cerveny also said space constraints hasn’t allowed them to expand their education opportunities.
The food bank offers a variety of educational courses for folks in the area. The classes cover a wide range of basic life skills, including cooking classes that target specific health issues, along with basic family nutrition and how to plan a budget — there is even a “Kids in the Kitchen” class for 10 to 20 year olds.
“We could reach so many more clients if we were able to offer these courses more frequently and in the evenings and weekends,” she said.
With the limited space of their current building, the food bank partners with Battle Ground Adventist Community Services to host the classes. They are only held twice a year.
New and growing demographics in need
Cerveny said in the wake of the economic downturn that began in 2008, they’ve seen the makeup of who needs assistance completely shift.
“We were still seeing people losing their house and losing their jobs,” she said of her arrival in 2012.
As a result, the staff learned of a lot of families and friends moving in together — a problem that has persisted.
“In some cases, we’ve got households with anywhere from 10 to 16 people, and the age ranges from 80 to infant — all under one roof,” Cerveny said.
The most noticeable uptick among demographics in recent years has been seniors, homeless, and young adults 18-21. Of seniors, Cerveny said many are being hit with obstacles that they never predicted.
“How can you plan with rents being as high as they are now?” she said. “The high cost of rents, transportation, utilities; all of those are adding up.”
Cerveny said a lot of seniors end up losing a spouse to an illness and are left with massive medical debt, along with sometimes dealing with their own medical bills from ailments they’re facing.
Of the rise among young adults 18-21, Cerveny said many of them are couch surfing while trying to find their way and get by, after leaving home right after high school on their own accord, or were kicked out.
Shortage of volunteers
The food bank currently has 75 volunteers but Cerveny said it’s not enough to keep up with the community’s increasing need.
“Even with the 75 volunteers we do have, we always find ourselves in need throughout the year,” she said.
The plan
The plan North County Community Food Bank has put forth to remedy the rising need is a new facility, but the process of making that happen is a long one
The food bank has been doing some smaller fundraising directed at a new facility over the last few years and has raised around $250,000 toward what they estimate will be a $4 million to $5 million project. They’ve also begun discussions with multiple property owners.
